How to Recycle Your Ink and Toner Cartridges

Only about 15% of the 65 million printer ink and toner cartridges used in the U.K. are recycled. Many people don't realize how much damage they cause to the environment by throwing them away. Here are five places you can recycle your cartridges instead.



Give them to the printer company. Most original manufacturers will accept your used cartridges for recycling.



Give them to office supply stores. Some stores will take your old cartridges for recycling. Staples' Inkdrop program is a good example; they give you prepaid envelopes and will deliver new cartridges in exchange for your old ones.



Check with your municipal recycling centre. Most public recycling centres don't recycle ink cartridges, but some do-and if your local recycling centre isn't vocal about what it recycles, you may not realize.



Send them to a nonprofit recycling centre. In the U.K., check out GreenSource [http://www.greensource.co.uk/], Cartridges4Charity [http://www.cartridges4charity.co.uk/], and Empty Cartridge Ltd., [http://www.emptycartridge.co.uk/index.asp]. Many recycling charities will pick up your cartridges for you.



Sell them to third-party remanufacturers. Third-party remanufacturers collect used cartridges, refill them and sell them at significant discounts. Some will allow you to send them your old ink and toner cartridges, and may pay you for the effort.



Donate to local charities. Local nonprofit organizations will sometimes hold recycling drives. If you want to donate locally, look into your area's schools, libraries, religious organizations, and other charities.



Recycling your ink and toner cartridges isn't hard. With all the ways available to recycle your cartridges, it's surprising that anyone throws them away.



About the author



Pete Warrior is business owner of ink and media ltd the UK based ink and toner online retailer. For more information on refill inks and cartridges check out http://www.inkandmedialtd.co.uk/acatalog/Inkjet_Cartridges.html